How Aerobic Training Helps You Get Stronger

If you want to get in better shape, it is easy to assume your conditioning workouts should leave you completely exhausted.

Heart rate through the roof.

Sweat everywhere.

Lying on the floor when the workout ends.

It certainly feels like you accomplished something.

But harder does not automatically mean better.

At BMF Training, one of the most important things we teach our members is that different types of training create different adaptations.

Strength training has a purpose.

Power training has a purpose.

High-intensity conditioning has a purpose.

And lower-intensity aerobic training has a purpose too.

In fact, if your goal is to become stronger, recover better, improve your health, and stay athletic for life, developing your aerobic system may be one of the most overlooked pieces of your training.

Cardio Is More Than Trying to Burn Calories

For years, cardio has primarily been marketed as a way to burn calories.

Want to lose weight?

Do more cardio.

Want to make the workout harder?

Add burpees.

Want to burn even more calories?

Go faster.

But conditioning should not simply be viewed as a tool for burning calories.

Your cardiovascular system plays an important role in your ability to:

• Sustain physical activity

• Recover between sets

• Recover between workouts

• Perform repeated efforts

• Handle greater training volumes

• Participate in sports and recreational activities

• Support long-term cardiovascular health

That means conditioning should be trained, not simply endured.

Aerobic and Anaerobic Training Are Different

One of the reasons conditioning becomes confusing is that we often describe everything as "cardio."

But your body has multiple energy systems that help produce the energy required for movement.

Two of the biggest categories we discuss with our members are aerobic and anaerobic conditioning.

Aerobic Training

Aerobic exercise generally involves efforts you can sustain for longer periods.

Think:

• Walking

• Easy cycling

• Rowing

• Light sled work

• Hiking

• Longer intervals at a controlled pace

You are still working, but you should usually be able to control your breathing and maintain the effort.

Anaerobic Training

Anaerobic efforts tend to be shorter and significantly more intense.

Think:

• Sprinting

• Hard intervals

• Heavy sled pushes

• Repeated explosive efforts

• Short-duration conditioning circuits

Both are valuable.

The mistake is thinking every conditioning workout needs to be anaerobic.

If every workout pushes you toward your maximum effort, you accumulate a tremendous amount of fatigue.

Sometimes that is appropriate.

Sometimes it isn't.

Your Aerobic System Helps You Recover

This is where aerobic conditioning becomes especially important for people who strength train.

Imagine performing a heavy set of squats.

Your heart rate goes up.

Your breathing increases.

Your muscles are working hard.

Then you rest before your next set.

During that rest period, your body is trying to recover so you can produce another high-quality effort.

A well-developed aerobic system supports that recovery process.

The same thing happens during a conditioning workout.

And between workouts.

And between rounds of a sport.

Improving your aerobic fitness can help you become better at recovering between efforts so you can continue producing quality work.

That is one reason we don't view strength and conditioning as opposing goals.

When programmed correctly, they can support each other.

Better Conditioning Can Help You Strength Train Better

One of the biggest misconceptions about cardio is that people who want to get stronger should avoid it.

That is too simplistic.

The problem usually isn't conditioning itself.

The problem is poorly managed conditioning.

If you perform extremely demanding conditioning sessions every day while also trying to train heavy, recover from work, raise a family, sleep enough, and manage everything else in your life, eventually something may suffer.

But intelligently programmed aerobic work can improve your ability to tolerate training.

You may notice:

• Faster recovery between working sets

• Less time needed before you feel ready for another effort

• Greater work capacity during accessory training

• Better recovery between training sessions

• An improved ability to maintain quality movement as sessions continue

Being stronger is valuable.

Being able to repeatedly use that strength is valuable too.

Not Every Workout Needs to Redline You

A useful lesson in training is learning that you do not always have to finish exhausted.

Sometimes a successful conditioning session should end with you feeling like you could have done a little more.

That is intentional.

During lower-intensity aerobic work, we may ask members to maintain something around a moderate effort.

You should be working.

You should notice your breathing.

But you should still feel in control.

Instead of sprinting for 30 seconds and then needing several minutes to recover, you may work continuously for several minutes at a sustainable pace.

That teaches your body something different.

Hard intervals develop your ability to tolerate and recover from intense efforts.

Aerobic training develops your ability to sustain work and recover efficiently.

Neither one is automatically better.

They simply have different jobs.

This Is Why We Don't Turn Every Strength Workout Into Cardio

You have probably seen workouts that include:

Squats.

Deadlifts.

Presses.

Rows.

Lunges.

Carries.

Burpees.

Everything performed as quickly as possible with minimal rest.

Technically, you are lifting weights.

But if the weight has to remain light enough for you to continue moving without rest, the primary training effect may begin shifting toward conditioning.

That doesn't make the workout bad.

It simply means we need to understand what we are trying to accomplish.

When our goal is building strength, we want enough recovery between sets to produce force, maintain technique, and progressively challenge the movement.

When our goal is conditioning, we can manipulate pace, duration, rest, and exercise selection differently.

The goal determines the training.

Not the other way around.

Why We're Focusing More on Aerobic Capacity Right Now

Training should change throughout the year based on what we want our members to develop.

We have spent previous blocks challenging different forms of strength and higher-intensity conditioning.

Our current training phase is placing a greater emphasis on general physical preparedness and aerobic capacity while we continue building strength and power.

You will still squat.

You will still press.

You will still jump, push sleds, lift weights, and train hard.

But some of our conditioning work will intentionally be more sustainable.

You may see longer stations.

You may work at a moderate pace.

You may be asked to control your breathing rather than race the person next to you.

That does not mean the workout is easier.

It means the goal is different.

What Is GPP?

GPP stands for General Physical Preparedness.

Think of it as building a broad physical foundation.

A well-rounded person should have some level of:

• Strength

• Endurance

• Power

• Coordination

• Mobility

• Work capacity

You do not need to be elite at every quality.

But having a strong foundation allows you to handle more of what life—and training—throws at you.

For one person, that might mean being able to hike on vacation without getting exhausted.

For another, it means recovering faster between rounds of jiu-jitsu.

For a parent, it could mean keeping up with their children without feeling physically drained.

For an athlete, it might mean being able to maintain their performance later in a game.

That is what general physical preparedness is about.

Building a body that is capable.

You Don't Have to Choose Between Strength and Endurance

There is an old idea that you must choose one:

Either you are strong.

Or you have endurance.

But most of the people we coach do not need to specialize that narrowly.

They want to be strong enough to lift something heavy.

Fit enough to go on a hike.

Mobile enough to move comfortably.

Powerful enough to play a sport.

Conditioned enough to keep going.

And healthy enough to continue doing those things for decades.

That requires training multiple physical qualities.

The key is organizing them intelligently.

What Should Aerobic Conditioning Feel Like?

Not every aerobic session needs expensive equipment or complicated heart-rate calculations.

For many people, a simple guideline is:

You should feel like you're working, but still in control.

Your breathing is elevated, but you are not desperately trying to catch your breath.

You can maintain the pace for an extended period.

You could likely speak a short sentence.

And when the session ends, you don't feel destroyed.

Depending on your ability and preferences, this could include:

• Incline walking

• Cycling

• Rowing

• Hiking

• Easy jogging

• Sled drags

• Swimming

• Longer mixed conditioning circuits performed at a controlled pace

The specific exercise matters less than the intention behind it.

Harder Is a Tool, Not the Goal

We absolutely believe in training hard.

There are days when we want you to push.

There are times when we want heavy weights.

There are times when we want explosive efforts.

And there are conditioning sessions where being uncomfortable is part of the training.

But intensity is a tool.

It should not be the entire training philosophy.

If every session is a maximum effort, eventually maximum effort stops being special.

A good training program knows when to push and when to build.

Training Should Build You Up

One of our biggest philosophies at BMF Training is that fitness should improve your ability to live your life.

You should become stronger.

You should have more energy.

You should move better.

You should feel more capable.

You should be able to train consistently without constantly feeling beaten up.

That is why we don't measure the quality of a workout by how exhausted someone looks afterward.

We measure it by whether the training is moving that person toward their goals.

Sometimes that means lifting something heavy.

Sometimes it means moving explosively.

And sometimes it means spending 30 minutes building your aerobic base at a pace that doesn't look very exciting on Instagram.

All of it matters.

Build Strength. Build Your Engine. Keep Both.

If you want to stay athletic throughout your life, don't only ask:

"How strong am I?"

Ask:

"How well can I use that strength?"

"How quickly can I recover?"

"How much quality work can I handle?"

"Can I still perform when I'm tired?"

Being well conditioned doesn't take away from being strong.

When programmed appropriately, it can help you become a more complete athlete.

And at BMF Training, that is ultimately what we want for our members.

Not simply someone who can survive a workout.

Someone who can move better, feel better, get stronger, and stay capable for life.

Because everyone deserves to be an athlete.

Ready to Train With a Purpose?

If you're tired of random workouts and want a structured approach to strength and conditioning, we'd love to learn more about your goals.

At BMF Training in Huntington Beach, our coaches help you build strength, improve your conditioning, and develop a training plan you can actually sustain.

Schedule a consultation at bmf-training.com and come experience the BMF Training difference.